Review: LG G2x

The G2x has an 8 megapixel camera and has some really nice features to it. There's no physical camera button, so you have to access it from a shortcut or the app menu. It launches in a snap. The basic shooting screen uses about 80% of the display's real estate as the viewfinder. In the right-most 20%, there is a simple control strip that includes a camcorder toggle, shutter button, and access to the gallery.

Press the screen to pull up a secondary control strip, which offers access to all the camera's features and controls. The options are numerous. For anyone who likes to control the behavior of their camera, there's a lot to like. Items such as metering, scene mode, ISO, white balance, color effects, shooting mode and on and on are available.

When you're ready to take a picture, press the on-screen shutter button. The G2x takes about a second to focus, and then snaps the image. A review screen pops up instantly. You need to tap the screen to get back to the camera.

Given all the great features of this camera, I am puzzled by one that's missing: touch to focus. The G2x has a central focusing grid, but that's it. You can't tap your friend's face in the viewfinder and force the camera to focus there.

Click a thumbnail above for a larger view.

Gallery

The gallery is the stock Android option. Photo albums float in stacks in the main gallery view, and you can sift through them in the chronological timeline in which they are arranged. It has a neat 3D look and feel to it. Sadly, editing options are severely limited. Crop and rotate are all you get.

This is one application, however, where the G2x's enhanced performance are felt. The gallery exhibits absolutely no sluggishnes. It's insanely fast. Full size images -- which can be as large as 4MB -- fly past on the screen when you're zooming through your library.